BNP Paribas plans &euro300m injection into equities unit

By

Guy Paisner in Paris and

William Wright

May 27, 2002 5:00 p.m. GMT

BNP Paribas will invest an additional €300m ($327m) in its European equities business between 2003 and 2005 in an attempt to break into the top 10 equity houses in Europe. The firm is also planning significant recruitment of senior investment bankers in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK to increase its non-French banking presence.

The investment comes on top of hundreds of millions of euros that have already been spent since the merger...